Australian athletes have been banned from Rio de Janeiro's famous beaches at night after American swim star Ryan Lochte was robbed at gunpoint.

Lochte and three other TeamUSA swimmers - Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, and Jimmy Feigen - were held up by a group of armed thieves posing as Brazilian police.

And Australian officials have now implemented increased security policies for their Olympic athletes, including a ban on being on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches after dark.

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Australia's 2016 Olympic Games chef de mission Kitty Chiller has banned athletes from being on Rio de Janeiro's famous beaches after 6pm

Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro is now off limits to Australian Olympic athletes between 6pm and 6am after chef de mission Kitty Chiller announced new security advice

USA swim star Ryan Lochte was held up at gunpoint and robbed in Rio de Janeiro along with three other team-mates

Australia's Olympic chef de mission Kitty Chiller said: 'Obviously safety and security has always been the primary concern for all our athletes and all our team members.

'We've introduced some further security and safety protocols for those people travelling especially to Copa and Ipanema area to ensure above all else we retain all our team members safely and securely.

'We are reiterating our initial protocols which is always travel in groups of three, but we’ve put now the Copa and Ipanema beaches, the sand off limits. There has been a lot of increased petty criminal activity on the actual beaches.'

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Australian Olympians have also been told not to walk around in Rio at night-time and instead make sure they are in official cars or buses.

They've also been advised not to wear their Olympic tracksuits in case that makes them a target for thieves.

'If they’re travelling at night, after dark between 6pm and 6am, then it’s only by vehicle and not by foot. Even if they’re only going 400-500 metres,' Chiller added.

Australian Olympic athletes have been banned from the famous Copacabana beach after 6pm in the wake of USA swim star Ryan Lochte being robbed at gunpoint in the Brazilian city

Australian Olympians such as sailor Mat Belcher (above) have been told not to go onto Rio's beaches after 6pm and have also been advised not to wear their official kit in public

'Those people going out on leave recreation not to wear team uniform and we’re also highly encouraging our athletes that we found a couple of areas in Barra to go to rather than travel into town because the Copa and Ipanema downtown area seems to be where most of the unsavoury activity is happening so we can keep people away from there.'